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Review: Yume Nikki

I'm starting my reviews with a completely unknown game. It's a freeware RPG maker game. But it's not an RPG. It barely fits into a proper genre minus Freeware. It's an ore of "There, There’s a game explore"

Seriously, this game is the creepiest, weirdest things you can ever play.
You start by seeing playing and see a thing come called "game flow":

And the first I advise you all to do is go straight into the bed and this is where the fun begins.
You get teleported onto your balcony. Walk back into the room and through the door.
It'll take you to a 'The Nexus' Where there are 12 doors. And leaving at this you can find your own way.

The Game Flow pretty much explains the story. You play a Madosuki, The only character with a official name. (Uboa and Such, they are fan made) We are told nothing about her. Nothing that she has weird dreams and hhas a diary.
That’s it. There is no manual to tell you go get the 24 effects. When you do something happens. I'll post a clip on how to get the ending to save spoilers. But there still is no dialogue. The only real Antagonists are the Bird-People (Toriningen) and maybe Uboa. I should explain here that the bird people who have a fancy Japanese name are things that look like a woman in skirt and hair but is actually a bird faced. Here:

The one on the left you can see is a normal one. They do nothing but walk around and around and around. Until you stab them with the knife. Then they go purple. If they catch you, you get teleported to an inescapable square. So you just wake up and go asleep and continue on. There are some Lunatics that are always purple. Say In Hell.

You walk with the arrow keys. Interact with the enter key. That’s all there is too it. EXPLORE DAMNIT.
I can't say much in sections but I want to tell you why I loved this game. The creepy atmosphere. the music, the feeling the whole game feels. The unknown of what around the corner. The unknown of having no proper map. The unknown what’s going to give you an effect or not. The creepy atmosphere through all the 20+ worlds. The way everything comes together. Everything is instantly opened, no farming or unlocking. The theories behind Mado's dreams. Why doesn't she go outside? Why is there a flying deformed octopus? Why is that ending! It's so.....So...I doubt there is a word for it.

I love that the game is hard, but in an indirectly way. There are no bosses, just exploration. Or the Tile Worlds GOD DAMN ANNOYING BIRD PERSON WHO KEEPS GETTING ME.
There is nothing that obvious that looks like it’s to be talked to. Okay minus the Knife and Bike that stick out. But the Vending machines. The money you get when murder random things.
You can even increase your hearts for no apparent or relevant reason.

Why does a game that looks like it's be done in MS paint, even the damn 8-bit world does, get such a high score? Because graphics is what can make or break game.
I'm not talking who has the fanciest animation software, but instead, the graphics that make the feel of the game. Like Ravenholm from Half Life 2 being such a prominent, imaginative and very symbolic place.

This however is a beautiful game where new things are constantly being found, in a variety of art styles. From 8-bit, to the dark puddle world, to the glitched room, to the tiki place, to the graffiti world, even down to the monochrome world..

The music here is to the point of mind exploding. Each one feels perfectly in place. Simple, not too fancy, not to random. The voices you can here in some of the songs. The quiet yet drama of the Toriningen Beat, it sounds almost like a spinning fan. It's a marvellous little piece. Creepy as hell.
The Pink Sea theme. It beckens exploration in little drops. IOf your on you way to see Uboa, then this fits in marvously well.

The Abandoned Desert Town, the slow sad beat. You have no idea what’s happened, your just walking around and through. But it feels so sad. The picnic theme. A small happy tune. In a uless little picnic area that your cannot even get to. Isn't that a nut kicker?

What I'm trying to see Yume Nikki's OST are small little songs of great repetition, but are so beautifully crafted and placed in that they

It's not like Minecraft where you need something to do keep it interesting. I've played it for years and I love to pick it up, or see an update. To looked around a little more. To see if there is something I missed. If there is something lacking. Or just to see the end. It's strange Yume Nikki, it's a game that you could play for hours and get bored with. Put it down and not touch it for months. But as soon as you re-open it.

BAM!

Your dragged right back into Mado's little world. You could even try Yume 2kki, which I'd happily recommend as a prideful sequel. Even a game called ".flow" is based on the same principle. Both are very good fan games. I suggest you check them out too.